To Ze's credit, the concept never overshadows the songs which, at their heart, are pop songs.

They sound more confident than ever, igniting their cabaret-rock with more crazed inventiveness and you-are-there immediacy.

Anyone who enjoyed having their brains and ears rearranged by Blueberry Boat and Rehearsing My Choir should find Bitter Tea enjoyable, but at this point, it seems like the most challenging thing the Fiery Furnaces could do is trust their pop instincts a little more often.

Though some of the production is a bit too reminiscent of 1990s indie rock, the songs are strong enough and the attitude addictive enough to position Figurines as more than an also-ran.

Demons is well worth checking out for those who like a sense of the unexpected in their pop.

It's all done with skill and to great effect, and the album is good for mood-setting background or forefront reflection, or for some combination of the two.

A very detailed, though still utterly bewildering, glimpse into the producer's musical thought process.

Typically cryptic and loaded with tasty guitar, Songs and Other Things is an excellent return for Tom Verlaine.

With the help of Danger Mouse's platinum ear and intricate vocal productions, Green is revealed as a top-notch post-millennial soul singer.

How We Operate is strong, focused, and a complete pleasure to engage; its maturity and confidence is beyond anything they've released thus far, and the experimentalism brought into play on their other albums is here.

It's not only a step forward for the band, but a re-embracing of the epic-length rock songs found at the roots of early heavy metal.

Barat's music doesn't have the baggage associated with Doherty's brooding, poetic aspirations, but it doesn't quite have the same impact, either.

There is a depth of emotion and seriousness here that had been missing on Sumday, Lytle's vocals have a gravity they lacked before, and the bandmembers seem to mean every note they play this time.

The only complaint with the album is that all the angst and gloom can get pretty heavy at times, but if you are in the right mood, Last Secrets can play like the soundtrack to a broken dream.

Snow Patrol's hungry rock sound only gets bigger and better this time around.

Though obviously unconcerned with finding a place in the mainstream, this release just as cool and catchy as anything by Evanescence.

The Invisible Deck is often dark and scattered, and doesn't provide the rush of instant gratification that Three Fingers and Purely Evil do, but its growth and promise are more exciting in their own right.

Shut Up I Am Dreaming is pure bedroom art-pop with a thin Britpop glaze that is as poignant and self-effacing as it is self conscious and pretentious.

Musically, the album is as hard as the group has ever gotten.

[The] lack of zest in the production is forgivable because Taking the Long Way is otherwise a strong, confident affair.

Their performances sound more confident than ever.

Thursday simply sound like a superior version of themselves.

An album that's more like the Walkmen's concerts than the meticulously crafted sound of their other albums.

The great majority of Stand Still, Look Pretty is tuneful, tastefully rootsy, and quite engaging country-pop.

Citrus is as good a shoegaze record you will ever hear, regardless of release date.

A deeply thoughtful and obviously personal album.

Vintage Burden is among the most beautiful, subtle, and moving records this band has ever made.

The music presented with such care here is lovely, soothing, and seductively beguiling; taken in enough times, it becomes utterly magical.